This is a terrible day for me. Why did he have to call me right now? He couldn't have chosen a better time?
I hung up on him and went to my next class. I entered and almost every eye turned to me.
Damn, this popularity of mine.
''What are you looking at?'' I growled and they turned back to their businesses.
I took an empty seat back and settled in.
''Hey,'' a voice said beside me. I glanced sideways and saw Max smiling at me. This dude still had the nerve to smile at me after all that confession.
''Look, I didn't know that you were not aware of your reputation. I just thought that you knew. I'm really sorry if I hurt your feelings or anything.I'm sorry about the shirt too.'' He looked down at my shirt and so did I. It still had that terrible stain.
''Maybe you should go wash it in the bathroom or something." He suggested. ''No, it's fine.'' I brushed it off and laid my head back on the desk.
I didn't even know how I survived the rest of the classes but as soon as I got home, I regretted my decision. Mr and Mrs Harvey were sitting on the couch, sipping coffee while Ryder was wearing a pink apron with a tray in his hand.
Fuck! I hated that color.
''Ryder, I'm home,'' I said and went upstairs.
After three hours of my peaceful slumber, Ryder rudely screamed for me. I lazily got out of bed, changed into shorts and a tank top. I went downstairs and saw Ryder holding up a red dress. It was laced from the top to mid-stomach. There were little shiny roses patterned on the lace while the res of the material flowed down freely.
I'm in love.
''You bought me a dress?'' I smiled at him as I collected it.
''No, your parents bought it.'' He picked up a bag.
''Ugh!'' I threw the dress onto the couch.
''And they brought this,'' he held up a black tux with a red tie, ''for me.''
''Let me guess, they want us to wear these to the function tomorrow?''
He nodded and I stalked off to the kitchen. I picked up a burrito on the kitchen counter and chewed my way in.
''The people who made this outfits are gonna be at the wedding tomorrow. They want us to wear the clothes tomorrow so they'll be impressed.'' ''Why do I have to live my lives according to their wishes?''
A phone beeped. Ryder picked up his phone and faced me.
''Did you argue with Scott?''
''Why?'' I ate the last part of the burrito and dusted my hands.
''He said he's coming over in five minutes. He could have sent it to you, why me?''
''I don't know.''
After exactly five minutes, our doorbell was jingled. I walked to the door and opened it. Scott looked surprised to see me. I looked over outside and saw Luke's RV.
This guy really turned my front way into his parking lot.
He's gonna have to start paying.
He walked in and went straight into the kitchen. I plopped down to the couch and scrolled through channels. Later, he came out.
"Goodnight Tess," he said before heading for the door.
" I'm sorry. Have we met?" I tried to put on a remembering face.
" Tess! You have to respect us as your friends."
"Dick," I stood up and went to my room. I really couldn't believe that Scott did that to me. We were buddies. My phone started vibrating. It was a video call from Luke.
I turned on the TV and turned the phone to face it. I swiped the screen and accepted the call.
"Hello? Theresa? You there?"
"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" The TV rang out.
" Ooh SpongeBob," he chirped in a cheerful voice. I kinda like where this is going.
"Absorbent and yellow and porous is he?" He sang along.
"If nautical nonsense be something you wish,"
"Dude," I turned the phone to my face.
" Hey Theresa, could you turn me back to SpongeBob? I wanna finish .... OMG! Theresa! You're finally talking to me!" He screamed.
" And I'm starting to regret it," I dipped a finger into my ear to make sure my eardrums weren't busted.
"Gosh, I missed talking with you."
"Bye," I raised my hand to end the call.
"Wait!"
"What? I don't feel like talking to you. I feel betrayed and I would like to wallow in ice cream alone, please. " I ended the call.
I walked into the kitchen to grab a can of Coke. Ryder stood with a spatula in his hand. What he was cooking was completely burnt.
"Hey! Dude!" I turned off the cooker and he snapped out of whatever trance he was in. "You zoned out like forever. What's wrong?"
Then, I remembered that I hadn't seen him since Scott came to talk to him. He could have had something to do with this.
"Did Scott say anything to you?"
His eyes were teary. This dude never cries so what happened must be huge and I'm starting to feel anxious.
"Her condition worsened." He said in a croaked voice.
Her?
I racked my brain 'til I got the answer I was looking for.im pretty sure my eyes widened 'cause Ryder pulled me into a hug.
"The doctors told him that she improved but her condition worsened again.
"She's gonna get better one day, right?" I pulled away from him.
" Yeah, I promise." He took my pinky finger in his and forced a smile.
"I need some fresh air, I'll be back."
I ran out to the porch and sat on the stairs. I blinked rapidly to suppress the tears that threatened to burst our out of my eye sockets. I let the cool air bloe past and hit my face.
It's all gonna be better some day, right?
"Rise and shine, sweetheart!, We've got a wedding to crash!"
My covers were roughly pulled away before a large body on me. He was everywhere.
"Get the fuck off me!" I managed to wheeze even though he was squeezing life out of me.
"Good morning to you too," he got up and pulled me by my arms.
"What the hell was so important that you had to wake me up so early?" I yawned, stretched and flexed.
"We have to go to the wedding."
"Oh shit, I totally forgot about that."
We walked downstairs together and he had already prepared breakfast. A pile of pancakes was stacked on a plate. I grabbed a plate and took one from the pile. I dug my fork into it and chewed.
"You made this?" I turned to him with my full mouth.
"No, we did."
I turned around to see Luke, Lucas and Scott popping in from my backyard. I dropped the fork and made to go upstairs.
"Wait!"
"We didn't want you to feel bad."
"I have no idea why I'm here."
"When Luke started hanging out with us, we found out that you didn't know about your reputation. You thought you were just a normal high school girl when you were actually feared," Scott explained with a lot of sincerity.
"We didn't want you to feel bad or blame yourself."
Luke and Scott were looking so cheesy right now while Lucas has a stupid grin on his face.
"Forgive us?" Lucas blurted.
"Of course," I managed to say before they pulled me into a bone breaking and air-depriving hug.
"Where's Ivy?" I said as we disengaged.
"Yeah, about that." Scott said nervously.
"We'll tell you when you get back from the wedding." Luke quickly added.
" Is she alright?"
I grab a bottle of syrup and went over to my food. When I have a had this kind of breakfast?
"She doesn't want to be friends with you anymore." Lucas popped a blueberry into his mouth.
"Dude!"
"What the fuck?"
They screamed at him. I knew this was coming. I knew Ivy wouldn't last. She had only known me for a year and a half and she's already fed up. I really should applaud Scott. He stood by me all this years.
"It's fine, guys. You don't have to shout at Lucas." I moved closer to him and ruffled his hair.
"Hey, watch the hair," He started adjusting his swoosh.
"I hate to break this awesome reunion but we've got a wedding to be at," Ryder rushed down in his tux.
"Someone's looking good," I walked past him as I chuckled at his expression.
"Wait 'til you guys have seen Tessa's dress, you're gonna love it."
"Really? Then, go try it on." Luke shooed me away.
Sometimes, I think he's a girl.
He acts like a girl, thinks like a girl and even eats like a girl.
I went into my room, wore it black jeans with a black shirt and let my hair down. I pulled out a drawer and I put my nose ring, lip ring and eyebrow ring. I was back to my normal self.
I picked up the gown and heels, dumped it into a bag and walk back downstairs. Scott was drinking a fruit juice, Luke was talking to someone on his phone, Lucas's slow jamming to Ed Sheeran's I don't care.
Who does that?
I approached them and pulled Ryder.
"Let's go."
They all turned to me with the same expressions on their faces.
Shock.